Stirrups have long been used with saddles for riding horses. Stirrups provide a rider with an aid for mounting and maintaining a mount on the animal to be ridden as well as assisting the rider in controlling the animal. The configuration of stirrups can vary based on the intended use or style of riding, such as English riding, Western riding, rodeo, and racing, which are not mutually exclusive.
Various types and configurations of stirrups have been developed to promote a heals-down position, which is generally understood to be the standard riding position for most disciplines. The heals-down riding position is commonly understood to be with the rider's foot positioned to angle upwardly with the toes above the heel and with the ball of the foot on the footrest or tread of the stirrup. This position provides the rider with a comfortable and confident foot position that allows the rider to stand in the stirrups or sit in the saddle. The heals-down position also aids to reduce any risk of entanglement between the rider's foot and the stirrup if a rider falls from his or her mount.
Exemplary stirrups include, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,538 to Luger which describes a stirrup pad that provides an inclined footrest to aid a user in maintaining a heals-down foot orientation to produce a more comfortable and more stylish riding position. U.S. Pat. No. 21,764 to Loudon describes a stirrup with a pivoting footrest that is configured to pivot rearwardly to ease withdrawal of the rider's foot. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,986 to Meaghan et al. describes saddle stirrups that have a pivoting footrest to ease mounting and dismounting and to accommodate an angle of a rider's foot in a proper heels down-toes up position.
U.S. Pat. No. 459,291 to Johnson et al. depicts a stirrup with an open side that allows the rider's foot to exit the stirrup laterally. And U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,473 to Jones describes a stirrup with a footrest that is slanted downward toward an outer side of the stirrup to improve comfort for the rider.
These and other known stirrups may aid to increase comfort in many standard riding conditions, but applications exist in which non-standard riding positions may be beneficial. For example, rodeo events including team roping, also referred to as heading and heeling, and barrel racing involve professional or highly experienced riders and horse sprinting to catch a steer or sprinting around a pattern of barrels. In such instances, it may be beneficial for the rider to retain his or her center of gravity forward on the horse so as to hinder the horse's performance as little as possible while also staying in position to rope the steer or to guide the horse throughout the run. This forward position of the rider is difficult or impossible to achieve and/or maintain with a heals-down foot position and with stirrups that promote the heals-down position. Further, use of stirrups configured for heals-down riding when attempting to achieve or maintain the forward riding position may increase the likelihood of the rider losing a stirrup among other potential safety concerns.
To maintain the forward position, the rider may benefit from a heals-up riding position in which the heels are above the toes to place the foot in a forwardly tilted orientation. Such a non-standard position can be difficult and dangerous to achieve and/or maintain using known stirrup configurations. There is thus a need for a stirrup that provides riders, such as professional riders and experienced rodeo competitors with a heals-up riding position.